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Negotiations on enlargement of the European Environment Agency opened

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Negotiations on enlargement of the European Environment Agency opened

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Published 29 Mar 2000
Last modified 13 Apr 2011, 07:17 PM

On 27 March the formal negotiations for membership of the European Environment Agency kicked off in Brussels with all 13 candidate countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.

On 27 March the formal negotiations for membership
of the European Environment Agency kicked off in Brussels with all
13 candidate countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.

From the EU side, DG Environment (chair), DG Enlargement
and the Agency participated.

The Agency is the first EU body open for membership
to the countries that have applied for EU membership. The significance
of the enlargement of the Agency goes therefore far beyond purely
environmental matters, helping to demonstrate that EU takes the
whole enlargement process seriously.

Agreements with the candidate countries will be
negotiated individually. At the kick-off meeting, each country was
presented with a draft agreement. It is hoped that the first agreements
can be concluded by summer and ratified by the EU and applicant
countries by the end of the year, leaving the way open for the first
countries to join the Agency at the beginning of next year.

The new members will have the same rights and obligations
as EU Member States, apart from the right to vote in Management
Board on the rare occasions when this is necessary. Liechtenstein,
Iceland and Norway are members of the Agency with the same status.

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